Galesburg Reporter

Village of Williamsfield Village Board met Sept. 3.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Williamsfield Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall. Present were President Tonkin, Trustees Trudy Self, Pam Courson, Michael Gray, Stuart Hickerson, Ryan Smith and Stanley King. Also present were Susan Ott, Judy Johnson, and Larry Mattson, Pat and Patty Collopy, Andrew Scott, Chief James Robertson, Treasurer Mary Rice, Tom Rice (R/O Plant) and Village Clerk Tori Courson.

Motion by Trustee Smith and seconded by Trustee Hickerson to approve the minutes of the August 2019 meeting as presented. Roll Call Vote - Self-yes; Courson-yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried.

Motion by Trustee Self and seconded by Trustee Smith to approve the new bills as presented. Roll Call Vote - Roll Call Vote - Self-yes; Courson-yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried.

President Tonkin reviewed financial statements for the month. All were in order. Motion by Trustee Gray and seconded by Trustee Smith to approve the financial statements. Roll Call Vote - Self-yes; Courson-yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried. President Tonkin discussed with Mary that the Village's financial statement has to be posted for the public to see but would cost the Village $500-$600 to publish it. President Tonkin is researching other ways to post the financial statement to cut down on the cost

There have been invoice inconsistencies with the water bills, the software is not computing correctly. President Tonkin and Trustee Gray are going to contact the IT person in charge and work out the bugs. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Public Comment: Pat and Patty Collopy own a rental home next to 206 N Elm, the house has not been lived in for over 10 years and is an extreme eye sore. There are tall weeds, debris, rodents, broken glass, a washer, go carts, cement mixer, etc in the yard. Andrew Scott lives on the other side and he stated he has tried to buy the house and property for years and has cleaned up the yard himself and has mowed for years. He has small children that play outside. In the past, letters have been mailed to the property owner explaining to him he is in violation of the Unsightly Property Ordinance but he has taken no action. Motion by Trustee Courson and seconded by Trustee Self to have the Village's lawyer prepare a letter to send to the property owner giving him a chance to respond then have another deadline to have the property cleaned up. Motion passed unanimously.

Correspondence: N/A

Street Report: Bryce Smith and Trustee Smith started to edge the sidewalks on several streets and will continue. Trustee Smith stated if Henry County still has cold patch on hand, the Village can purchase it for at a good rate but a semi would be needed to haul it. Motion by Trustee Courson and seconded by Trustee King to purchase 40 tons of cold patch at $50 a ton (a savings of approximating $100 a ton). Roll Call Vote - Self-yes; Courson­ yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried. Next year, the Village will start planning in March or April for road and sidewalk repairs out of Motor Fuel Tax. This year planning was postponed because of the water project.

Police Report: Chief Robertson addressed the issue of people speeding and not stopping at the stop signs at Pine and Gale and Parkview. Trustee Smith stated he has witnessed several people speeding and not stopping. James said he has been patrolling those streets to hopefully help with the problem. Chief Robertson gave the Board a list of properties he has taken pictures of as unsightly properties, he will be addressing the issues with the residents and if they don't comply, they will be issued a citation.

Park Report: Trustee Courson stated the Parks Association would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped get so much accomplished in both parks these past few weeks. Cec will start working on the Christmas lights at the end of September. The Julie Strom Frisbee toss was held on August 31, $150 was raised and much food was donated to the food bank. Doubet­ Benjamin Park looks good for Ag Day. A work day was held to mainly get the

mulching done. There are a few bushes and trees that the hard winter affected that will get trimmed before Ag Day. Thanks to Don and guys for

coordinating the mowing to be done before the tents arrive. All your work is appreciated and the park looks great. All though the cost to get it here was more than expected, the caboose is here. Thank you to everyone that helped that day to make it happen. There are some cosmetic things to get done and some winterizing to do this fall. Over the winter, we'd like to poll the community (as the Village suggested at the May meeting that they would help us with) on possible bandstand removal and at the same time show a rendering of the Williamsfield depot replica pavilion that would replace it. And also, poll the community on how best to use the caboose to compile and present Williamsfield train history memorabilia. There was also discussion about forming a committee including community members, Parks Association members, Village Board members, Legion and DAR members to help with further plans for Veteran's Park on how best to utilize the property including placement of a possible new pavilion, railroad cross buck and depot benches. The playground committee has filed an application for the Governor's Hometown Award on behalf of the Village, Park Association and FFA Alumni. The next step in the process of this volunteerism-based award will involve a presentation in Springfield next month. Jeff Campbell, Joanie Stiers and others will go to Springfield to make this presentation.

Water Report: Tom Rice stated one relay went bad in the RO Building and it was switched out and a spare is ordered, the hanging overhead heater was

installed and Peerless Pump did the annual water inspection. Trustee Hickerson reached out to Midwest Meters, Badger Meters from Wisconsin about replacing water meters and will get figures from him in the future. Trustee Hickerson is going to apply for the Weinberg Grant for municipalities that are involved in an infrastructure project. Neil Smith from Bruner, Cooper and Zuck informed President Tonkin that they are currently ahead of schedule on the water project and have saved approximately $15,000 mostly because they didn't have to double wall the pipes. The Village had decided to put on hold repairing the water pipes on South Elm because of the cost of the total project, it is an estimated cost of $10,000 and $20,000. The cost can be added to the line of credit at the bank that was set up for the Village's portion of the water project. Neil stated it would be cheaper to replace the water pipes on South Elm now instead of in the future. Motion by Trustee Self and seconded by Trustee Smith to replace the water pipes on South Elm Street in the current water project phase. Motion passed unanimously.

Maintenance Report: The maintenance department recently painted cross walks, mowed, edged sidewalks put in 3 new water meters. Trustee King stated he is looking into new door handles locks for the rest rooms at Doubet-Benjamin Park. Trustee King also ordered a new part for the batwing.

Old Business: The Village Board would like to purchase a truck for the Maintenance Department for picking up brush, debris, hauling garbage, parts runs etc. At the August meeting, they discussed getting a 2007 GMC 112 ton 2WD but decided it should have 4WD and should have more power to be able to plow snow because the Humvee doesn't stay charged long enough due to the plow and Humvee having different volts. After researching a different truck, they discovered 4WD would be over the $10,000 budget. The Board discussed offering $8,500 for the 2007 GMC 1⁄2 ton 2WD and spend the remainder $1,500 to repair the Humvee so it is reliable to plow snow. Motion by Trustee Courson and seconded by Trustee King to offer $8,500 for the truck and spend $1,500 to repair the Humvee. Roll Call Vote - Self-yes; Courson-yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried. Trustee Smith would like to purchase a leaf blower for the Maintenance Department.

At he August meeting Don Pool attended inquiring about purchasing a lot on Cottonwood Court to build a garage for storage. President Tonkin discussed with Massie and Quick LLC the terms of the interpretation of the Covenant for the lots. After researching, the lots are to be sold for the purpose of building homes and bringing residents to the Village, not a garage for storage. The Board therefore decided they could not sell a lot to Don Pool unless a dwelling is to be built on the lot. President Tonkin stated Don Pool is looking for property for storage if anyone knows of anything.

Trustee Courson reached out to Elmwood, Princeville and Brimfield on Village's employees' salaries to see how our salaries compare. Most municipalities have full time employees and benefits, unlike Williamsfield. President Tonkin is going to create a spreadsheet to evaluate making adjustments to salaries based on the cost-of-living and other factors while also keeping the budget in mind.

New Business: Trustee Gray would like to get a sign or monument installed at Veteran's Park displaying "Veteran's Park". He stated various Veterans groups will cover the cost. Motion by Trustee Hickerson and seconded by Trustee King to have the sign or monument installed. Roll Call Vote - Self­ yes; Courson-yes; Gray-yes; Hickerson-yes; Smith-yes; King-yes. All in favor. Motion carried. The Board also discussed replacing/repairing the tires on the cannon.

President Tonkin stated there was a bags tournament held at Double Take in July. Neither DoubleTake nor the host of the event followed the correct protocol according to the ordinance for special events where liquor is served outside. The event was planned at the last minute and President Tonkin emailed all of the Board members to fill them in on the situation, he also made it very clear to Double Take owners and whoever may host the next event that in the future, one of the bar owners and the host need to ask permission from the Board before an outdoor event.

Trustee Gray stated Highway 180 is still a safety issue and fixing it needs to be a priority. President Tonkin has reached out to Senator Weaver about the issue.

Motion by Trustee Self and seconded by Trustee Hickerson to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor.

The next meeting will be held on October 7, 2019.

https://ee9cc01f-11f4-4647-916a-da0d58775074.filesusr.com/ugd/b56699_ccfee1254dff48ee98c1cdb2faf9cbc2.pdf?index=true